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Sunday, January 18, 2009

Well, that explains the apoplexy
Posted by Jill | 9:04 AM
This morning I was watching Politico's Mike Allen on Washington Journal as he fielded the Wrath of the Wingnuts as they watch the remaining days in power of their patron saint ebb away. It's astounding how similar all these calls are. One thing I'll say about wingnuts: they are very good at sticking to their talking points. Whether it's "Obama is a socialist" (without explaining how they figure Tim Geithner is a socialist) or "You're trying to silence Rush Limbaugh" (which begs the question of how the quietly wonkish hosts at C-SPAN have the power to silence someone as widely syndicated as the Oxycontin Gasbag Sex Tourist), they know their script and they're sticking to it.

It's almost enough -- ALMOST -- to make me think that perhaps the Obama strategy of stroking the egos of Republican legislators and pundits might not be so dumb or indicative of Obama's own personal baggage after all. For if he can get the likes of Mitch McConnell and John Boehner to either sign on, or at least look really foolish and churlish in being obstructionist, that leaves the idiocracy on the talk-radio right hanging out to dry.

It has to be difficult, when you've put so much energy into a man like George W. Bush for the last eight years, casting him as a patriot, a great leader, a war hero, a flyboy with a Big Swinging Dick (because how do WE know the codpiece was stuffed with gym socks?), a cowboy, and all the rest of the Village People, as OMG The Greatest Preznit Ever, to see him slink off into the darkness with an approval rating of 22%. That's worse than Nixon. That's worse even than Jimmy Carter. This isn't "intelligent people of goodwill can disagree". We're talking epic fail here, kids.

Of course it shouldn't surprise anyone who knew anything about George W. Bush's history. Before he became governor of Texas, a singularly powerless post, his history was one of drilling dry holes and squandering other people's money. Why anyone thought his presidency would be different will always be a head-scratcher to me. I suspect that if he had heeded the many warnings he received of an impending terrorist attack, and the 9/11 attacks had not occured, the talk that existed prior to that day of his presidency being over almost as soon as it began, after a Navy submarine being handled by Bush campaign contributors as a "reward" for their support collided with a Japanese fishing boat, killing four high school students and five other people, less than a month after Bush took office, would have continued.

But Bush DID ignore warnings, and the attacks occurred, and it presented this most cynical of Administrations with the perfect opportunity to implement the PNAC agenda in the middle east, and at least begin the march of this country towards an executive branch-centralized form of American totalitarianism. And indeed, if they'd been able to keep the economy held together with scotch tape and Elmer's glue long enough to get the election out of the way, the Bushian dream might have continued under John McCain and the lunatic Christofascist Zombie Sarah Palin.

And so George W. Bush will exit stage right on Tuesday, after having all but exited after November 4. He and his shills will no doubt continue their attempts to patch together some kind of legacy, no doubt spinning any Obama accomplishments that occur as being really THEIRS while simultaneously spinning any mistakes Obama makes as being his alone. But as we watch the country celebrate its "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" moment, juxtaposed against images from Kogelo of African drumming and dancing celebrations that are inspiring and fascinating if you are on my side of the fence and terrifying if you are not, we should not forget that the dark forces which brought George W. Bush to power are still out there and they do not intend to be thwarted for long. Because they, like Dick Cheney, don't care about polls. Because for them it's never about what the American people want. It's THEIR country, it's their due. They just allow us to live in it. For now.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...
"This is their country ... they just allow us to live in it."

Absolutely true. Republican Nominee Jeb Bush is waiting over the horizon (or an equally repellent facsimile). For the American aristocracy, this is just a temporary plebian interlude, like the Clinton years. They've got the money, the power, and the connections to ride it out and come back in four or eight years, and they will.

Oh well, I'm still gonna try to enjoy my champagne Tuesday night.
1/18/09, 11:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
It's not so much that they know the talking points, it's that they accept them as the gospel truth. They are black and white thinkers who cannot even check out a different point of view. That is what today's GOP and power brokers count on.

Obama is playing it smart. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. He knows the blowhards like Limbaugh and Kristol are all about themselves and having had access to Bush if they think they are important enough to have access to Obama, even if he ignore their advice, it will still give them something to brag and feel important about. That will satisfy their egos.
1/18/09, 7:23 PM  
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